ESNZ Eventing welcomed attendee’s to the AGM & Conference on Saturday 6th July at the Rydges Auckland. This was preceded on Friday 5th with an evening together celebrating the ESNZ Hall of Fame awards.

Eventing was in the spotlight with Greenacres Special Cavalier winning the ESNZ International Horse of the Year, the winning Oceania Young Rider team won ESNZ Team of the Year, Mia Gilbert winning the Eventing Young Person of the Year and Jenni Calver for winning Groom of the Year. For a full review of the Hall of Fame awards, head to the News section of the ESNZ website here. Congratulations to Eventing nominations of Tim Price for Rider of the Year, Festival for Horse of the Year and Chelsea Burns for ESNZ Against all Odds.

Thank you to all attendee’s of the Eventing AGM for providing quality discussion points throughout the day resulting in inspirational ideas to progress and develop our sport. The AGM saw the announcement of the decision to increase the Eventing levies by 10% for the coming season effective from 1st August 2024. The decision was made by the Eventing Board following levies having not been increased since 2018 coupled with ESNZ’s decision to not increase the membership fee’s for 2024/2025, in the hopes to lessen the impact for riders. The AGM minutes will be available from 1st September on the Eventing section of the ESNZ website here.

The afternoon section contained the Conference which saw insightful presentations from a range of presenters:

  • ESNZ Central: constitution update, ESNZ insurance, Strengthen & Adapt update and High Performance
  • Event toolbox and land sustainability from Eventing Board members, Rosie Edwards and Kate Rouch
  • Fall data from our National Safety Officer, Hamish Butler-Gallie
  • Thinking outside of the box with running Events and minimising the cost of FEI classes from Jenny Draper
  • The importance of verifying horse information on the ESNZ database from Janene Maxwell

We concluded the day celebrating the Volunteer’s of the Year as nominated by their Area Groups, Dedication to the Sport, Volunteer of the Year as voted by the Board and the Stickability Awards. This is where we hear about the incredible dedication our Volunteers provide to each Area Group which is always a heartwarming and humbling experience. We truly appreciate the dedication which enables our sport to run.

Emily Cammock and Zealand Blue HSH were voted by the Eventing community to be the recipient of the Stickability Award following their impressive recovery in the CCI4*-S at the SI 3DE in October:

 

2025 will see the 75th year of ESNZ therefore keep an eye out on the website for the venue and date to attend and celebrate this truly special year.